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Twilicane
Twilicane, or simply "cane", is a memetic name attributed to Alicorn Twilight's scepter in the Season 4 premiere of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic. The erroneously described 'cane' consists of a golden rod with a ruby on the bottom and a mold of Twilight's head on the top. Most of the amusement of this meme exists due to the exploitability of the rather impenetrable smile on the figure's face. Despite its minimal screentime on the show that only spanned a few seconds, the meme started in an /mlp/ thread and exploded in popularity on the same day, much similar to the legacy of the Gak meme from the previous year. However, unlike Gak, this meme didn't begin at first sight. In fact, most of the responsibility of this meme's origin is directed towards /mlp/. Origin The only episode for the scepter to have screentime was in the second part of Season 4's two part premiere "Princess Twilight Sparkle". In the episode, Twilight is convinced by her friends to return to Ponyville during their venture through the corrupted Everfree Forest, much out of their fear that they "couldn't afford to lose another princess". Discord, whom made himself at home in the new chaos struck Ponyville, mocked Twilight for her premature return and asserted that the mindset for this decision was that she's "better than everyone else". He continued this mindless accusation by displaying Twilight in a royal caricature, including a cape and scepter, the latter of which would be popularized by the fandom later. Twilight is then provoked by Discord to return to the forest and return to her friends.http://mlp.wikia.com/wiki/Princess_Twilight_Sparkle_-_Part_2 First thread Following the airing of the episode, /mlp/ regular CapperGeneral created a thread to dump his screencaps of the premiere. This would be the earliest time that the amusing expression of the scepter's face would be acknowledged amongst episode watchers on /mlp/. However, no one had attempted to exploit it until when a thread was posted a few hours later, titled "Bow before your master", presenting the scepter with its proverbial smile in the OP's image.http://archive.heinessen.com/mlp/thread/S14684695 Provoked to exploit it, regulars began creating image macros of it while it was being vectored. When the vector was finished by one anon, regulars began opening Photoshop to copypaste the image in places out of context out of their amusement. The face proved to have potential as no matter how many exploitables they made, the thread only became more interesting. By the end of that night, the meme extended to three different threads, where animated gifs were posted, including one of a scene from American Psycho with Christian Bale swinging the scepter against a door, another being an allusion to the popular "walking hammers" scene from Pink Floyd's "The Wall", a third one Photoshopped over Gandalf's staff from "Lord of the Rings" and a myriad of others. To other media outlets Sometime that night, someone wrote a Know Your Meme article titled "Twilight Scepter" inserting nonsense/gibberish to the page. The article was instantly deadpooled, though the users on KYM later found out that while the article was meant to be a joke, the meme's rising popularity was entirely genuine. Later that week, it would be rewritten and submitted for review. The meme would also spread to other pony-related chans, including MLPchan, Ponychan, and even Efchan, where they contributed as well. Much similar to the popularizing of most original content caught on /mlp/, the overwhelming majority of Twilicane posts were later reposted on Derpibooru. By two days after the first thread, the tag #twilight scepter was already at over 500 images. Threads later emerged on Reddit and twitter linking to these images, and artists from Derpibooru were inspired to draw fanart. Threads on Reddit's r/MyLittlePony had been met with over 500 karma. Additionally, on the same day, a model for the Source engine (e.g: TF2, Garry's Mod, SFM) was created.http://www.equestriadaily.com/2013/11/twilights-scepter-tumblr-and-garrys-mod.html Response from show staff Within 24 hours, storyboard artist Sibsy acknowledged the rapid popularizing of the scepter memehttps://twitter.com/TheRealSibsy/statuses/404698501298126848 and later admitted that she is the one whom storyboarded the scene. Gallery Twicaneheadlinebighit.jpg|Definitely one of the more public memes to start on /mlp/, thats for sure. Spoilerimagejokecane.png|This is actually one of those "spoiler image jokes" that poke fun at the spoiler covers on Derpibooru. Sibsyholdingcane.jpg|Incidentally, Sibsy is the one whom initially drew the cane, since she was the stoyboard designer for that scene. Sibsy.jpg|Sibsy comments on the whole Twilicane phenomenon. Shiggydiggycane.jpg|"I seriously hope you canes don't do this" Scepterscene.png|Artist currently unknown. This was amongst the first fan art to include the scepter. Pinkfloydcanes.gif|Another cane in the wall. Nottodaypeasant.gif|What is this I don't even. Nocanenogain.jpg|ba dum tss Lookslikeitstimetocaneup.jpg|Looks like it's time to cane up! Killemall.jpg|Kill em all! Iwojimacane.png|Many serious wars were fought over canes. Inrodwetrust.jpg|Carlos! Illmakeacaneoutofyou.gif|LET'S GET DOWN TO BUSINESS... Iambestpony.png|Oh is that what ponies look like in the show? Oh man, I've been doing it all wrong! Howmaycanescanyoupossiblypost.jpeg|How many canes can you possibly post? Heytwicane.gif|Canes communicating with other canes Fourthwallcane.png|Dat fourth wall Foriamthecane.png|Fear me, for I am the cane Firmlygraspit.jpg|Firmly grasp it in your hand. Faceexpressiontrade.png|Face swap. Eqgcane.gif|A cane-swapped scene from Equestria Girls Densemotherfucker.png|You dense motherfucker Darequestionthedaughterofashepherd.jpg|A daughter of a shepherd. Crabdoyouevencane.jpg|Do you even lift Canerideneverends.gif|Cane's wild ride Caneprincesscelestia.png|My personal favorite Canepenispenis.jpg|haha Caneanalterror.jpg|It's a popular thing from /v/ Cane.gif|More animated stuff Burneverything.png|Burn everything! Bringmeyourvirgins.jpg|I am your god now, bring me your virgins! Acanetorulethemall.png|One cane to find them References Category:Meme Category:Exploitable Category:4chan Category:Derails